Economic Development

City Planning

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Zoning for Your Project

Zoning defines many aspects of a property, such as size and location of structures, allowed uses, required parking, transportation, lot shapes, block patterns and more.

If you are considering purchasing a property, making any changes to your property or changing how you use your property, use the DevelopDENVER tool to the right to determine the zoning for your property. Once you've found how your property is zoned, look up your zone district in the Denver zoning code to make sure the intended use complies with the code.

PLEASE NOTE: Proposed Zoning Code Changes

City Council will consider a series of updates to the zoning code will on June 15, 2015, which would take effect June 19. Any plan or permit that has not received final approval will be subject to the newly republished code on or after June 19, even if an application was submitted beforehand. More at denvergov.org/textamendments.

Zoning Permit Procedures

The purpose is to ensure compliance with the standards and provisions of the Denver Zoning Code, while encouraging quality development in Denver reflective of the goals, policies, and strategies found in the Comprehensive Plan.

DevelopDENVER

What you need to know for your project!

Contact Us

Zoning Permit Staff 720-865-3000 zoningreview@denvergov.orgPlease leave/send a message with details including the address of the property. Staff will return your call/e-mail by the end of the next business day.

Zoning Appeal / Zoning Variance

Project plans must be submitted so that zoning staff may complete a full review of the entire project. For those projects where you know your project will violate zoning regulations, and you plan to request a variance, you must still submit the project for a full review first.

If after submitting your plans you learn that your project does not meet zoning requirements, you may either revise the project to meet the zoning code, or you may be able to appeal the reviewer's decision to the Board of Adjustment.

An appeal is useful when:

A project does not meet zoning requirements due to a hardship; if this is the case, you may be able to request a variance.

If your project is found to have deficiencies in zoning, you may appeal to the Board of Adjustment at that time.

By ordinance, you must appeal to the Board of Adjustment within 15 days of the zoning staff's decision. Please inform the zoning reviewer of your intent to appeal, and obtain an informal denial in writing for use in your appeal.

By filing an appeal, any action of the zoning administrator directly related to the appeal is stayed until the hearing. A denial of a zoning use and construction permit for construction that does not meet the zoning ordinance requirements must be accompanied by two (2) copies of a scaled site plan, floor plan and elevation drawings. An incomplete submittal will not be accepted for filing for a hearing date.